Clam-Stuffed Portobellos
Portobello mushrooms are not a native Italian variety, but they are used frequently in Italian-American cuisine. Portobellos can be found in most large supermarkets, either loose, packaged whole, or cleaned and sliced.
Serves 10
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 fresh portobello mushrooms
1 cup dry white wine
2 dozen littleneck clams
4 large slices crusty Italian bread
6 fresh chives
1 cup Easy Alfredo Sauce (page 69)
Fresh-cracked black pepper
Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a large baking dish with the oil. Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems. Finely dice the mushroom stems.
Place the mushroom caps, stemmed-side up, in a baking dish along with the wine. Cover, and bake for 8 minutes.
Remove the clams from the shells, discard the shells, and clean the clams well. Chop the clam meat. Toast and finely dice the bread. Clean and slice the chives. Mix together the mushroom stems, clams, bread, chives, and Alfredo sauce.
Mound the clam mixture on top of the mushroom caps in the baking dish, and sprinkle with the pepper. Cover, and bake for approximately 10 minutes.
Cleaning Mushrooms
Mushrooms should not be washed in water since they absorb liquid like a sponge. Instead, use a soft brush or damp paper towel and scrub the mushrooms thoroughly. You simply want to remove any dirt or pebbles that might remain from when the mushrooms were picked.
